Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Rios.
Hi Rachel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Despite receiving gratuitous attention from my parents, I still pursued the arts. They put me in softball as a kid, which I loathed, so I went out for a play in hopes of throttling the other extracurricular. The acting bug bit and I’ve been doing it ever since. Fast forward to post-grad, I was working as a waiter, which I despised, so when I was offered a special recommendation for an MFA program to study playwriting, I moved across the country for it; it simply couldn’t be worse than waitressing. So I guess feeling bad was my big motivator. (Put a pin in that, it comes back.)
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Hot off of my MFA, I moved back to LA– and COVID hit. I am incredibly fortunate in that my losses were neither personal nor severe, but, like many artists, I lost access to my craft. Theaters were closed down, what’s a playwright to do? Learn to write for the screen, I guess.
Since the pandemic began, I’ve written four TV pilots (placing in international competitions and festivals), created/produced twenty-two web shorts, and penned two short films, one of which is in pre-production now! Limitations can open you up to new possibilities.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am particularly proud of my latest play, LIZ ESTRADA: A Comedy for Reproductive Rights. The first draft was written the day the Supreme Court draft threatening to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked, and the second draft was written the day Roe was officially overturned.
Synopsis: May 6th, 2022. Liz Estrada, a proud feminist and slut, must rally her gang of social media influencers to take on the Supreme Court as they attempt to overturn Roe V Wade. The #BlueBallers have one platform: We won’t f*ck until the Supreme Court stops f*cking with Roe v. Wade. But can the allure of sex save democracy from alt-right judges, irate Karens, and President Elon Musk? Liz Estrada, inspired by Lysistrata by Aristophanes, is a biting comedy about social justice, late-stage capitalism, and the timeless potency of dick jokes.*
My rage lived in a word document that I circulated amongst other angry artist friends until we were given a rare gift: a free space to put the play up. We had a week and a half to memorize and stage a 30-minute play (where most of us played upwards of seven characters) that could transform our anguish, anger, and hate into something new: Laughter. At an incredibly gut-wrenching time, we were able to provide our audiences with 30 minutes of relief.
That’s where I’d like to remain artistically. At the intersection of humor and the bedrock of anger: grief. This is my proudest moment because I did not let my distress silence me; I let it amplify me.
*Royalty Free (with proof of $20+ donation to a pro-choice organization) Production Rights Inquiries can be made via New Play Exchange: https://newplayexchange.org/plays/2036338/liz-estrada-comedy-reproductive-rights
Special Thanks to the Original Cast/Crew of LIZ ESTRADA: Nicole Clemetson, Heather Anne Gottlieb, Emma Hvizdak, Lauren “Lolly” Johansen, Kristin O’Brien, Isabelle Warden, Zoë Carr, Chloë Fehr, Maddie Wolfe
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
You’re going to feel like you need to iron out anything that makes you “too different” or “too out-of-the-box”. Resist. Your weirdness will be the building block of your success.
Contact Info:
- Website: rachelrios.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCktxCQuth7OeFSfqFo28gSQ
- Other: https://newplayexchange.org/plays/2036338/liz-estrada-comedy-reproductive-rights
Image Credits
Josh LaCour, Emma Mautz
